William Alexander Patterson (1866-1941)
}} Early life William got an excellent reference from a bank where he worked in Scotland. He wrote a journal of their voyage to New Zealand, beginning "Adieu, Scotia!". It has been donated to the Otago Early Settlers Museum. Heirloom In 1913, William and his three surviving siblings presented their parents with an ornate oval hard-soldered silver tray, measuring about 550 mm by 380 mm, inscribed: To FATHER and MOTHER on the occasion of their Golden Wedding August 31st. 1913 J.G.P. - W.A.P. - M.G.P. - D.L.P. That tray has been inherited by the Plimmerton branch of the family. Death His life ended peacefully after a successful career as a bank clerk in Wellington, where he and his wife had eventually moved back to the leafy northern suburb of Khandallah after a decade or more there in earlier days. Church involvement William was highly respected in the Presbyterian Church. Extract (by F. W. Robertson, Clerk) from the records of the Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand: :At Chalmers Church, Timaru, on Wednesday, November 5, 1942, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand met and was constituted. :Inter alia:- :The Moderator, with members reverently standing, conducted the Service of Remembrance of those who had passed away during the year, recalling the brethren by name, and the report of the Memorials Committee was adopted, which included the following:- MR. WILLIAM ALEXANDER PATTERSON :Mr. William Alexander Patterson, an Elder of the Church who has given distinguished service on many Assembly committees, died in Khandallah on May 17, 1941. Arriving in Dunedin while still a youth, he became identified with St. Andrew's Church. At an early age he was elected to the Eldership. Later on he resided in Oamaru and Kurow. On moving to Wellington, he was associated with the Kent Terrace, Kelburn, and St John's, but particularly with the Khandallah, congregations. In all the places where he resided he displayed the same eager churchmanship. Underlying his churchmanship was his sustained Christian conviction. He required no prompting to fulfil his duties. An inward personal concern for the House of God compelled him, and his diligence never slackened. There was no activity connected with the Church to which he did not respond in a most generous spirit. The Presbyterian Church had in him a member and an office-bearer who found his greatest pleasure in her service, and he gave unstintingly of his best to different congregations, to Presbyteries and to the Assembly. The epitaph on the tomb of General Gordon might also be written of Mr. Patterson, "Who at all times and everywhere gave his strength to the weak, his sympathy to the suffering, his substance to the poor, his heart to God." Descendants William's second daughter died young, but the other six children all went on to obtain university degrees. Four of them produced between them fifteen grandchildren, several of whom were born before William died. There are numerous great-grandchildren. One of the grandchildren bought and lived at 2 Lucknow Terrace, after it had been occupied by Jim then inherited by Grace. Addresses within New Zealand William lived first with his family in Dunedin and Oamaru, but apparently moved back to Dunedin then Wellington on gaining independence. He and his future wife had presumably met in Oamaru, where her father was a Presbyterian Minister. Addresses recorded in the Stone's Post Office Directory for William (or Wm) A (or Alex) Patterson: *1896-1897: Main rd, Ravensbourne (now a suburb of Dunedin) *1901: 48 Wallace street, Wn (the year his second child was born) *1902: 11 Ellice ave, Wn *1903: (clerk) 11 Ellice ave *1910: (clk Nat Bk) p r ("private residence"?) Khandallah *1911 no sign of him but 1912 back in the record at Khandallah; same in 1913, 1914, 1915 (the year his youngest child was born), 1916, 1920, 1921 *1927: (clk) 85 Fairley Tce, Kelburn(e) (when he would have just passed the standard retiring age; his three youngest children were teenagers) - and the same in 1929, 1931, 1936, and 1937 *1938: 33 Simla Crescent, Khandallah; but in the 1938 electoral roll for Wellington Suburbs they are at 98 Khandallah Road (just across the road from the bottom of Simla Cres -which gave its name to the railway station): "Patterson, Katharine MacLean, ... md" and "Patterson, William Alex, ... bank clk" - so he never became a manager or was too modest to say so *1939: 98 Khandallah Road *1940: no entry *1941: 2 Lucknow Terrace - just across the road from the bottom of Simla Cres, on the Khandallah Road corner; they had built a new house on what had been a vacant section next door to 98 (this detail from daughter May, as reported to several relatives by Don McLeod in 2018). In 1942, and probably in subsequent directories until 1958, the householder was Patterson, Mrs W A. Category:Married in Dunedin Category:Married in 1898